Posts Tagged ‘Shippuuden 110’

Without revealing any spoilers, I’d like to point out some biblical parallels with episode 110 of Naruto Shippuuden. I am not saying Shippuuden teaches biblical principles because Naruto has its own religious principles that conflict with Christianity. However, its my hope that this episode can be used as an illustration, contrasting a godly grief with a worldly grief.

Guren on the right and Yuukimaru on the left.

In Naruto Shippuuden 110, Guren says, “I fully realize that no matter how much I may regret it, no matter how many times I say I’m sorry, nothing will ever erase what I did.”

Firstly, Guren acknowledges that feeling sorrow, or grief will not erase her sins. Guren’s quote follows after a biblical principal: Although the believer and non-believer both have sorrow, sorrow in of itself does not erase wrong-doing.

Biblical Principle: All Grief is Not Created Equal

The difference between the two types of grief are what the grief produces: One produces death, the other produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret.

What Repentance Isn’t (Keeping the Law)

Worldly grief lacks repentance that leads to salvation, not just stopping sin. Paul is not simply saying to stop sinning. Paul says that the repentance must lead to salvation with no regret. In other words, a non-believer cannot repent by obeying the law! Why? Because keeping the law is impossible.

Jesus says:

“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
– Matthew 5:20

There was no one that tried harder than the Pharisees to keep the whole law.

However, keeping the whole law is impossible! James writes:

“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery’, also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.”
– James 2:10-11

James argues that if your want to keep the law than you must keep the whole law. Therefore, if a person already has failed in one point, he has failed in keeping all of them!

Based on what both Jesus and James said, we know that a repentance leading to salvation is not just keeping the law since failing one means we’ve failed them all.

Repentance Leading to Salvation

In order to repent with a repentance leading to salvation we first must confess our sins:

“If we we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
– 1 John 1:9

Second, we must do it by faith in Jesus Christ:

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”
– Romans 3:21-25

A Salvation with No Regrets

Lastly, Paul specifies that godly grief produces a repentance that leads to Salvation with no regrets. There is only one reason why we can have no regrets: Being justified by faith. Paul writes:

“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
– Romans 5:1

A righteousness by faith produces peace with God. The righteousness by faith reconciles us to God (Romans 5:11), producing peace.

To receive salvation from God, Guren must have faith in Christ propitiation for her sins (propitiation means satisfying of God’s wrath or judgment for our sins). Do you have a faith leading to salvation and forgiveness of your sins? Guren took the first step, confessing her sins, and admitting the uselessness of only feeling sorry for her sins. Can you?